Easy Pickled Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers.  Cool, crisp, and screaming “summer!” but not the most exciting vegetable.  My friend says the best thing to do with them is to put slices of them over your closed eyes, as it helps reduce wrinkles.  I’m thinking I’d have to leave them on for a few years. According to WebMD, cukes on the eyes for 10-15 minutes help re-hydrate the eyes and reduce puffiness.  Must.Try. 

But for eating?  Pickles are good, but how many of those do we eat in a year?  Not a ton.  I like a few on a salad, but if I buy one during the winter to use on a salad, I end up throwing half of the slimy thing away when I find it in the bottom of the vegetable drawer.  But for some reason, I always plant a few plants.

This year I planted 12 and they all came up, so I thinned them down to 3 – which is STILL too many cucumbers for people who don’t eat pickles on a regular basis.  We love what we call “cucumber salad.”  It is super easy to make, and I will sometimes make it in the winter (when I remember) with a couple store bought cukes.  It is simple and delicious.

How to Make This Delicious Pickled Cucumber Salad –

Take a few cucumbers – I like to slice off some of the peel and take the ends off.  Slice them up – seriously, this is where a [easyazon_link identifier=”B01CT63964″ locale=”US” nf=”y” tag=”dinnerd06-20″ cart=”n”]mandoline[/easyazon_link]comes in handy  (another much-used gadget I have been glad I purchased.)  I use it all.the.time.  I then slice up some onion.

For 5 cukes (yes, I know there are 6 in the picture, but after slicing 5, I realized that was plenty) I cut up one onion.  I used the [easyazon_link identifier=”B01CT63964″ locale=”US” nf=”y” tag=”dinnerd06-20″ cart=”n”]mandoline[/easyazon_link] for it as well, then cut the slices in half.

Whisk together-

2/3 cup of vinegar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Pour this over the cucumbers and onions and refrigerate until ready to eat – try for at least 3-4 hours, unless you are like me and just think of it a couple minutes before you are getting dinner on the table.  This is a very flexible recipe, and you can add or subtract anything you can think of.  Many people like it with more sugar.  I often make it with some dill weed and some red pepper flakes, but we really love it just like this, so I always try to make it this way ….  This is a delicious, healthy, low calorie, no fat dish, that you can make all summer long.